Department of Computer Science

Department information

Latest Linux kernel versions

Release v[1-9].[0246789]

[1-9].[0246789].0

not available

Kernel version numbering scheme

Linux version 1.0 was released on March 14, 1994 and
there has been numerous new versions after that.
There are still bugs
in the system (as in any operating system), and new bugs will creep up
and be fixed as time goes on. Because Linux follows the open
development model,
all new versions will be released to the public,
whether or not they are considered ``production quality''. However, in
order to help people tell whether they are getting a stable version or
not, the following scheme has been implemented: Versions r.x.y, where x
is an even number, are stable versions, and only bug fixes will be
applied as y is incremented. So from version 2.0.2 to 2.0.3, there were
only bug fixes, and no new features. Versions r.x.y, where x is an odd
number, are beta-quality releases for developers only, and may be
unstable and may crash, and are having new features added to them all
the time.

From time to time, as the current development kernel stabilizes, it will
be frozen as the new ``stable'' kernel, and development will continue
on a new development version of the kernel.